A Satisfying Soup From the Italian Pantry

'Some soups are delicate, light and refreshing, served as the prelude to a meal. Others, like this one, are hearty and nourishing meals in themselves. It is not precisely a soup, but a soupy concoction of potatoes and pasta, known throughout Italy as pasta e patate.

This is an example of the country’s bare-cupboard cuisine, la cucina povera, in which inexpensive basics are transformed with small jolts of flavor from aged cheese, dried chiles, herb pastes and the like. Thrifty but flavorful, its principal aim is to feed a family during times when funds are tight. (If no potatoes were in the pantry, you could make a similar soup with beans or lentils.)

Humble, but not spartan, many dishes from this tradition are also exceedingly delicious.

Here, you soften an onion in a hot pan with a generous glug of olive oil, then add chopped potatoes, salt, a garlic clove, a rosemary sprig and water. When the potatoes are done, a handful of pasta goes in, and when the pasta is al dente, you ladle this steaming, chunky marvel of a soup into bowls. Pass the grated pecorino and Parmigiano, a cruet of oil, the pepper mill and crushed red pepper.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/dining/pasta-potato-soup-recipe.html?